Far from the plastic bag of potatoes you casually pick up at the local supermarket, the potato is, in fact, vital to the food security of hundreds of millions of people in the developing world. Almost 213 million tonnes of potato are grown to eat every year, making it the third most important food crop in the world.

Because of the importance of this underestimated tuber, the United Nations named 2008 as the International Year of the Potato (IYP). Needless to say, the International Potato Center (known by its Spanish acronym CIP) will be organizing many activities during the year. Find out more below.

CIP will be organizing an international forum entitled: Potato Science for the Poor – Challenges for the New Millennium in Cuzco, Peru, 25-28 March 2008